Report:

Huntington Beach’s new Downtown Specific Plan may have significant impacts to air quality, noise levels, cultural resources and public services over the next 20 years, according to an Environmental Impact Report released Monday.

The Downtown Specific Plan is a long-range planning document that dictates building specifications and is being updated to increase development over the next two decades. The plan encompasses 336 acres, including the area south of Goldenwest Street and north of Beach Boulevard along the beach and from the pier to Palm Avenue, with Sixth and Lake streets as the boundary lines.

The potential impact the plan will have on air quality, soil and geography, cultural resources, hydrology and water, noise, parking, land use and planning, public services, recreation, transportation and parking, utilities and service systems, aesthetics, population and housing, transportation and circulation and hazardous materials was analyzed. Kellee Fritzal, deputy director of economic development for the city, said she believes the city can move on with the update based on the findings.

“There isn’t any overriding issues on this,” Fritzal said.

The report was sent to state officials and utility companies, and is available to the public on the city’s website, at the Main Street Library, City Hall and the Michael E. Rodgers Senior Center, city officials said.

At the Planning Commission’s study sessions on the Downtown Specific Plan, residents were concerned about parking issues if the city increases shopping and restaurants, builds a cultural arts center and eliminates 55 parking spaces on Main Street. According to the report, there will be no significant impact on parking downtown if the city takes certain steps.

Resident Richardson Gray said he is concerned with the size the proposed underground parking structure in the cultural overlay at the north end of Main Street will have to be to accommodate the city’s future parking needs if the city goes through with its plan for a cultural arts center at Triangle Park. He also said the impact the development will have on the city is on more than just noise and traffic, but on residents’ way of life.

“I think that’s something they’ve totally missed,” he said.

The plan will have a significant impact on short-term noise levels and could be a strain on the city’s public services, including fire stations, and cause an unknown impact on cultural resources over the next 20 years, according to the report.

Air quality will also be a significant impact if the city goes through with the update to the Downtown Specific Plan. Nitrogen oxides, reactive organic compounds and inhalable particulate matter levels are projected to exceed the Southern California Air Quality Management District’s thresholds during construction and are unavoidable during development, according to the report.

Gray said he is concerned over the negative air quality levels the residents will be facing and the long-term impact of increasing traffic in the residential area if the plan is approved. He said he is specifically concerned with the reported amount of reactive organic compounds, fine particulate matter and inhalable particulate matter that will go into the air

“That does seem unacceptable to me at least — a major impact that can’t even be mitigated,” Gray said.

The other areas the report analyzed received no impact to less than significant impact, provided that the city took adequate steps to prepare for them.

The findings mean the Planning Commission will need to make a statement of overriding consideration to continue with the updates to the specific plan, Associate Planner Jennifer Villasenor said. The statement means the commission believes the benefits of the Downtown Specific Plan outweigh the significant impacts identified in the Environmental Impact Report, Villasenor said.

The report will be available for public comment until Sept. 2, and a public comment meeting will be at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 in Room B8 of City Hall. Residents can also send comments to Villasenor. All comments will be reviewed by staff and consultants and responded to, Fritzal said.

The commission will vote to approve the final Environmental Impact Report at the end of August, Fritzal said.

The commission’s third study session, centered on parking issues, will take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room B8 of City Hall.